EPD: No evidence gunshot sound was caused by gunfire during fatal shooting investigation

Police officers were interviewing people in a Chandler Avenue home about a fatal shooting Wednesday when they thought they heard a gun go off inside the home July 18, 2018.
MaCabe Brown, Courier & Press

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Two Evansville Police Department officers enter the 600 block of Chandler Ave. in Evansville, Ind. on July 18, 2018. Police officers were interviewing people in a Chandler Avenue home about a fatal shooting Wednesday when they thought a gun went off inside the home.(Photo: MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press)Buy Photo

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Police officers were interviewing people in a Chandler Avenue home about a fatal shooting Wednesday when they thought they heard a gun go off inside the home.

No one was hurt, and no police officers fired their weapons, according to Evansville Police spokesman Sgt. Jason Cullum.

Police investigating the shots fired report did not find any evidence the sound was a gunshot, Cullum said later in the day. They are trying to find out what caused the noise.

If officers believe they hear a gunshot, Cullum said they will take steps to be safe and get the civilians out.

"In a case like this if they determine it wasn’t a gunshot, we’ve erred on the side of safety," he said. "If they feel that it’s a gunshot at that moment, and they continued down those stairs and they end up in a gun battle and there’s things they could have done to protect themselves, we would rather them have done that to protect themselves. This is something that can be taken care of after the fact as opposed to in a gun battle where officers or even a criminal suspect is injured or killed."

At least two people were inside the home with the officers. Police left the home. As of Wednesday morning, crisis negotiators and the SWAT team were working to get one person out of the house.

Two people were taken to Evansville Police Department headquarters to be interviewed while police tried to resolve the standoff.

Officers eventually determined no one was inside after deploying gas in the home.

Cullum said officers do not believe anyone left the house because officers had a "very tight" perimeter around the home.

While the incident at the Chandler Avenue home was occurring, other officers were investigating a tip at an address on S. Linwood Avenue. Cullum said the person they believe to be the suspect in Wednesday's shooting death was located at the address. He was taken into custody by the VIPER unit and US Marshal’s Task Force, but Cullum said the suspect is a juvenile so no other information will be shared at this time.

"There are other individuals who were present at the gas station where we believe the homicide happened that we still want to speak with," Cullum said. "I ask anybody who may have been a witness to that situation to please reach out to us and provide any information that you may have."

Cullum stressed that although police officers were interviewing people at the home as part of their investigation of Wednesday morning's fatal shooting, the people inside the Chandler Avenue home were not necessarily suspects.

Cullum said it's important to keep in mind the fact officers came to this address doesn't necessarily mean a suspect has been identified, it means someone said to talk to these folks. In that scenario officers don't need a warrant to simply ask questions.

The people who were in the home at the time of the incident are being “lawfully detained.”

“They are not being classified as a suspect in the crimes or even as a person of interest,” Cullum said. “They were at the scene when this part of the investigation happened inside the home, so that makes them material witnesses and we have the right to detain them.”

The 600 block of East Chandler Avenue was blocked while police investigated. Garvin Street north of Powell Avenue was also blocked, and police asked drivers to find an alternate route and bystanders to stay inside for their own safety.

Police are asking anyone with information to call the police department at 812-436-7979 or call the WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.

“Every piece of information we get can be used to get a peaceful resolution,” Cullum said. “If we’re working blindly that makes it a lot more difficult. If we know who we’re speaking with, if we know whether or not they’re involved in the specific investigation that brought us to that house, it makes a difference in how we proceed."

Attempts to get the person to surrender ended about 12:30 p.m., according to the Evansville Police Department Twitter account.

Just before noon Wednesday, SWAT deployed the chemical agent into the home, according to police.

“Citizens, especially younger and older individuals, who are trying to observe the police activity may be impacted by the agent as the wind dissipates it into the area,” according to a tweet from Evansville Police.